Suspect in Craigslist killing was honored for saving lives

Clabon Terrel Berniard, a suspect in the April 28 Edgewood home-invasion robbery and killing who turned himself in at the King County Jail on Thursday, was honored in 2007 along with his sister for saving two Seattle-area women from a burning house.

Diane Berniard, 22, was watching a movie Jan. 25, 2007, when she smelled smoke about 12:30 a.m. She and her 20-year-old brother, Clabon, went outside and saw black smoke pouring out of a house in the 6200 block of South 116th Street. They yelled for their mother to call dial 911.

The siblings pounded on the windows and doors of the house to wake the women up after a space heater in the garage ignited piles of paper and clothing.

“We started beating on the doors and windows trying to wake everyone up,” Diane Berniard told the Seattle P-I last month.

The siblings managed to wake a 63-year-old woman. The woman woke her roommate, 70, and both managed to escape the flames, which were starting to appear on the roof, which later collapsed.

As they hurried away from the house, the windows began to burst, Berniard said.

Firefighters arrived on the scene soon after, but district spokesman Dave Nelson credited the rescue to the siblings.

“This fire had a good outcome thanks to Diane and Clabon’s efforts,” he said. “If it had been another 20 minutes, who knows, the women may have died.”

The siblings received Citizen Lifesaving Awards from King County Fire District 20.

A nationwide arrest warrant was issued Wednesday for Clabon Berniard, 23, on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and second-degree assault. He turned himself in Thursday.

The Berniard family is no stranger to tragedy. The came to Seattle from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their Louisiana home.

Also from the 2007 story:

The family lost their home and possessions when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans more than a year ago. They moved to the Seattle area to be with an aunt.

“So I can actually understand how they feel about losing all their stuff,” Diane Berniard said in January. “But if that hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t have been here to help them.”

There were 60 house fire fatalities nationwide during the first 16 days of February, including three in Washington. Nelson said people should check smoke and carbon monoxide alarms often to ensure they’re working properly.